Mattresses themselves are very hard to clean. This is why we often put mattress protectors or mattress pads on top of them. In other cases, people put mattress pads on the bed to make it more comfortable, and these need to be cleaned for the same reasons mattresses themselves require cleaning. Let’s learn how to wash mattress pads depending on the material used.
How to Spot Clean Memory Foam Mattress Pads
1. Vacuum It
The first step is to vacuum the memory foam mattress pad. Use the vacuum cleaner without using the spinning brushes that can damage the material just as they could damage soft carpets.
2. Contain the Stain
The next step involves minimizing the damage to the mattress caused by any stains. Either blot the stain to soak up any mess, or blot water on it to make it easier to soak up.
3. Treat the Stain
If you’re dealing with urine, poop or blood stains, you could use an enzymatic pet stain remover before trying to remove the broken down protein material. You could also use a half cup of fabric cleaner mixed with a cup of water, spraying it on the stain with a spray bottle.
Alternatively, you could make your own stain remover. One memory foam cleaning solution is a mixture of one part vinegar with three parts water. Mix white vinegar with baking soda to remove urine and sweat stains.
You can mix baking soda with hydrogen peroxide to make a substance that will lift deep stains out of the bed. You’ll want to let it seep into the stain and then bubble out for thirty minutes before you weep it up. Note that this may bleach the mattress pad surface.
Warning: you should never mix hydrogen peroxide with vinegar. This means you’ll need to clean a stained area with water thoroughly before you try to use a baking soda and hydrogen peroxide mix to remove a stain.
4. Remove the Cleaning Solution
After you’ve applied the cleaning mixture, break out a couple of clean washcloths or towels. Get them damp but not dripping wet.
Push them into the mattress surface to get it wet. Squeeze the moisture out of the sponges into a bucket, and then use the dry sponges to pull the moisture, the mess and the cleaning solution out of the mattress pad.
Start from the outside of the stain and work in. This prevents the stain material from being spread to previously clean parts of the bed. Make sure you rinse the sponges or wash cloths periodically so that you don’t end up pushing the stain deeper into the bed.
5. Dry the Mattress Pad
Suppose the stain has been removed. The next step is drying the memory foam so that mold doesn’t grow in the bed topper.
One option is hanging the memory foam mattress topper to dry; hang it in the sun to fully disinfect it. You can also leave the mattress topper on the bed and blow a fan over it to speed up the drying process.
If the stain has been removed but there is still a mild odor or you’re not sure if you removed all the moisture, sprinkle the mattress with baking soda. Leave it there for half an hour, then sweep or vacuum it up.
How to Wash an Entire Memory Foam Mattress Pad
Memory foam mattress pads should not be run through the washing machine, though a few brands of shredded memory foam pillows can be machine washed. This means you must hand-clean the memory foam mattress pad.
1. Do an Initial Cleaning
The first step is either shaking it out outside or vacuuming it with a vacuum cleaner without having a brush rip up the surface. Alternatively, you can sweep it.
2. Apply a Gentle Cleaning Solution
Apply a memory foam safe cleaning solution to the entire bed. Let it soak in, especially in stained areas.
3. Rinse the Affected Area
Use the same process of rinsing individual parts of the mattress with sponges or clean wash cloths. Clean the mattress stains from the outside in, while rinsing the rest of the mattress can be done from the inside out.
You may need to repeat this process with stubborn stains.
4. Dry It Out
The mattress pad needs to be thoroughly dried before it is covered up by blankets or sheets. The first step is blotting wet areas with a dry towel to help draw out the moisture.
Now you need to get the mattress pad completely dry. You can air it out on a clothesline or lay it on the bed and blowing a fan over it.
5. Reassess the Situation
Note that memory foam’s absorbent qualities mean that it cannot always be saved. Very large or dark stains may not be cleanable. Your choice is then to keep it or dump it.
If the bed still smells bad, we’d recommend replacing the mattress pad altogether. That’s especially true if covering the bed in baking soda and then vacuuming it up didn’t eliminate the smell.
How to Wash a Down or Feather Mattress Pad
1. Check the Instructions
The first step is checking the mattress pad care instructions. Some feather or bird down mattress pads can only be safely cleaned by a dry cleaning service. If this is true in your case, you’ll have to take it to a professional to be cleaned.
Suppose the feather or down mattress pad can be cleaned as a do-it-yourself task. Check the seams of the mattress pad, because you don’t want the filler material to escape when you wash it.
2. Wash It Properly
You’ll either run it through a large capacity washing machine on a gentle cycle or hand wash it in a large bath tub. You should use a down wash that preserves the oils in the feathers. The second best choice is a gentle laundry detergent, though this can remove the oils from the feathers, making it less soft.
Only add enough detergent to clean the load, and don’t use fabric softener or bleach. Run the clothes washer on a gentle cycle with cold water.
3. Dry the Bed
You can try to air dry the feather bed topper. Or you can run it through the clothes dryer to dry it.
If you want to dry the down or feather mattress pad in the dryer, you’ll want to put a small physical object like a tennis ball in the clothes dryer with the pad. This will prevent the feathers from clumping, keeping the bed fluffed up.
Run the dryer on a low heat setting to avoid damaging the down or feathers.
4. Take Breaks to Take Care of the Bed
Take the feather pad out periodically to shake it. This helps prevent clumping and ensures all the filler material is dried.
Put the mattress pad back in the dryer to run for another ten to twenty minutes. Then put it out, check it, and redistribute the material. This process may take up to three hours, depending on how thick the mattress pad is.
How to Clean Cotton Mattress Pads
Cotton mattress pads are typically the easiest to clean. So how do you clean a cotton mattress pad?
1. Read the Instructions
First, check the care label. The mattress pad should tell you what types of detergent can be used. For example, it may not be safe to use bleach or harsh detergents to wash the mattress pad.
2. Wash It in the Washing Machine
Put the mattress pad in the washing machine. Wash it according to the care instructions.
In general, the mattress pad will be washed on a gentle cycle with compatible laundry soap. If the mattress pad has a vinyl backing, do not use fabric softener with it.
3. Dry It Out
Dry the mattress pad according to the instructions. This is typically either a gentle cycle in the clothes dryer or air drying it.
Always ensure that the mattress pad is completely dry before you put it back on the bed.
Summary
Mattress pads help protect the bed while making it more comfortable to sleep on. However, they’re prone to the same stains as conventional mattresses. Follow our advice to clean the mattress topper you spend roughly a third of your life sleeping on.